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 As the COVID-19 pandemic prompted school closings and disrupted
classrooms last year, 415 children from elementary to high school
age were recorded as having taken their own lives, according to the
education ministry's survey.
The number is up by nearly 100 from last year, the highest since
record-keeping began in 1974, the Asahi newspaper reported on
Thursday.
Suicide has a long history in Japan as a way of avoiding perceived
shame or dishonour, and its suicide rate has long topped the Group
of Seven nations, but a national effort brought numbers down by
roughly 40 percent over 15 years, including 10 straight years of
decline from 2009.
Amid the pandemic, suicides increased in 2020 after a decade of
declines, with the number of women committing suicide surging amid
the emotional and financial stress caused by the coronavirus
pandemic, although fewer men took their own lives.
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 The education ministry said a record high of
more than 196,127 school children were absent
for 30 days or more, media reported.
The results showed that changes in school and
household environments due to the pandemic have
had a huge impact on children's behaviour, NHK
quoted an education ministry official as saying.
(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Gerry
Doyle)
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